and discuss it on our blog.
English Conversation Course for Part-Time Students
Friday, 2 December 2016
Week 5 [28.11-04.12] Will technology replace your job?
Tuesday, 29 November 2016
Week 5 [ 29.11-04.12.2016] How to save money
 |
| Source: http://jakoszczedzacpieniadze.pl |
6 months ago I did not think about personal finances. I spent what I earned. Some time ago I heard about one guy whose name is Michał Szafrański. Michał worked for an IT department. Then he founded a blog “Jak oszczędzać pieniądze”. On this blog you can find many articles about finances. In 2013 he won the competition - “Blog Roku 2013”. Three years later he wrote a book that I have just read. Interestingly you cannot purchase this book at any store. Michał published it himself. He sold almost 12000 books in the pre-order. Within the first month he earned over 400 thousand PLN.
The book is divided into 10 chapters. Each of these chapters changed something in my life. You can find information about the household budget, loans, financial intermediaries, motivation, investing etc.
 |
| Source: http://finansowyninja.pl/ |
The book gave me an incredible kick into action. After reading the chapter on household spending I could write a small home budget for the next month. The bride asked me to do it long time before :)
I learned the contents of the mortgage. I know that interest rates always changi
On the other hand,
many people do not think about saving at all. It's terrifying. Michał
writes on his blog that about 20 million Poles do not have any
savings. What if such a person loses his job or has a
car accident? What about savings for
retirement? I do not know how such people may think that ZUS will pay
them enough money to survive. When I am
I would like to get about 3,000 PLN per
month. It
will let me pay all the bills, go
shopping and even I could go on holiday
once a year. I cannot imagine living for 800 zł per month, so I try
to save money :)
Savings should be invested or deposited in a savings account. You can read about it in one of the chapters. As it turns out this is necessary because of inflation. Unfortunately, the deposits have relatively low interest rates.
You can read more about this book at http://finansowyninja.pl/
Do you save money?
What do you think about compound interest?
How do you see yourself in retirement?
Savings should be invested or deposited in a savings account. You can read about it in one of the chapters. As it turns out this is necessary because of inflation. Unfortunately, the deposits have relatively low interest rates.
You can read more about this book at http://finansowyninja.pl/
Do you save money?
What do you think about compound interest?
How do you see yourself in retirement?
Monday, 28 November 2016
Week 5 [ 28.11-04.12.2016] The pre-Christmas rush
As we all
know, Christmastime is very emotional. People get
ready for Christmas days or even weeks before. Most of us go to malls to get
perfect gifts for our loved ones to show them our devotion. This phenomenon
wasn’t omitted by businessmen who foresee a great opportunity to enhance their income. Christmas rush started
some time ago even though we still have almost a month to the holiday.
Every
single year we see the same scenario. At the beginning of November shops are
getting full of Christmas decorations, carols, and Santas. On TV, brands began
to start their Christmas advertisement. It seems that every year the Christmas
rush arrives earlier.
Source: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/travel/2015/12/16/bronners-revels-christmas-rush/77090440/
In the past we used to watch a white bearded elderly man in a red suit (who eventually became imprinted into your mind as Santa Claus) driving its truck full of soda drink. There were a bunch of children laughing and playing as they watch their favorite drink pass by.
Nowadays more
brands are trying to become icons of Christmas. Either they’re mobile service
providers, banks, shopping malls or sweets producers, all of them are looking
forward to use our instincts and the atmosphere of Christmas for their own
benefit.
1. What do
you think about Christmas commercials in November?
2. Is there
any Christmas commercial that you like?
3. Have you
already started buying Christmas presents?
Sunday, 27 November 2016
Week 5 [ 28.11-04.12] Does our happiness depend on the number of 'likes' below our photo or post?
Nowadays
social media portals and blogs are becoming more and more popular. It is a great
way to share an opinion about passions, interests with others. Blogs are
especially famous among young people; they
are some kind of a diary.
When I was a
teenager I wrote a diary. I put my thoughts, memories and everything what
happened to me that day in it. I wrote about problems and solutions to them.
But I did everything to keep my diary in
secret and I did not want anybody to read it. I kept it in a safe and I did not
allow anyone to be interested in reading it,
including my family and friends. When only I thought about a situation
when somebody could read it, I felt scared. I remember that all my friends wrote
them and they kept them in secret. Why do people share their emotions and
thoughts today? Doesn’t it mean that our life is becoming more predictable and
available for everyone?
I am sure
that you have at least one friend who shares a lot of content on the Facebook
wall , including tones of photos of food stuff, places, complaints about
politics or just bragging. In my opinion people for ages have been willing to
share their lives. Who was not tired after scrolling twenty albums with photos
during his/her first visit at the partner’s home. There is a small difference between
sharing a physical album that is hidden in a shelve instead of sharing photos on
the Internet where everything stays once it was published. Showing others where
we are currently, what we wear, what type of cosmetics we use or what film we
will watch at the cinema – all these things are is addictive, especially when
we want to stay in the center of attention.
There is
one question – is this real life of this person? In the virtual world we have a
chance to create a “better” version of
ourselves. We brag and share everything, we collect “likes,” like they were so important and valuable.
If our everyday life is totally average,
200 “likes” below a post are important, don’t you think? We increase our
self-esteem. Unfortunately we do not realize that it can have an impact in the
future. Nowadays it is something normal that employers check potential
candidates on the Internet, before an official interview. How many people did
not pass it because of photos from some parties? Do parents think about what
their child will tell in the future when he or she sees a photo of himself
tagged: “First bath of our daughter”? This daughter can become a famous
politician in the future and for sure she will not be happy with this
publication.
My message is
presented in the short video below:
I encourage
you to watch it. :)
And please,
answer the questions presented.
Wednesday, 16 November 2016
Week 4 [14.11-20.11.2016] Disruptors – companies which are shifting the goalposts
At the beginning
I want to explain what “disruptor companies” are. In business, it relates to
radicall changes in industry or a business strategy, which leads to the lunch
of a new product or service on the
market. Disruptor companies completely change the way of thinking about a
product and how it should be developed on the market. These innovative
companies reorganize the market-- all companies have to reorganize their
business models.
I
recommend watching this short movie about the disruptive innovation:
Big potential of
the Internet causes that more and more young people use such products and services
like: Uber, Airbnb, Spotify, Netflix and many others. Nowadays people are
looking for innovative companies. They don’t want to call a taxi, but they ‘d
rather click one button in an app and be in a car going to their destination
point. People don’t want to call to rent an apartment, they’d rather use Airbnb
application, which will help them contact apartment owners directly. Old, boring and outdated products are no
longer interesting. Disruptors break all existing norms and create
products, which people are not able to live without.
A few example companies:
1. Uber
http://www.businessofapps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/video.yahoofinance.com@40d2db72-2976-37c8-b12d-b4858de5bb20_FULL.jpg
Uber is an
American industry, a creator of mobile application called the same name as the
company. This application is described as a tool which is connecting a
passenger with the driver. After pushing the button a request is send to the
driver. After a few minutes a driver who is using his own car will drive you
around the city. Around the Uber topic, there are many discussions about the
legality of its business. Uber company disrupted the taxi market with theirs
applications which leaded the simplicity of using. For me all this noise about
Uber companies is caused by the case that Uber left everyone behind with their
innovative product. It offers a service that is much cheaper from standard taxi
and much enjoyable to use. This company shows how much this modern service with
a little bit of different thinking have changed the taxi industry.
2. Airbnb
http://suitelife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/airbnb-a8707ed9_original.jpg
Airbnb is a
peer-to-peer online marketplace network that allows people to rent their houses
to people who are looking for some apartment to sleep. This company was founded
in 2008 and now its fortune is valuated between 10 to 25 billion dollars. This
big platform and application is making a big disruption in the hotel industry.
https://e27.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/disruption.png
I think that if
you want to build a brand, disruption, innovation and a completely new way of
thinking should be your main goal. I want to finish my presentation with a
sentence which Richard Branson said. He is an English business magnate,
investor and philanthropist, founder of the Virgin Group which controls more
than 400 companies. I totally agree with this statement, said by a man who is
wealthy and whose companies are disruptor on many markets.
“Disruption is all about risk-taking, trusting your
intuition, and rejecting the way things are supposed to be. Disruption goes way
beyond advertising, it forces you to think about where you want your brand to
go and how to get there.”
1. Do you know any well-known companies which disrupt the market?
2. What action should companies take to react to disruptors? What should they do to stay on the market?
3. Do you think disruption always comes with innovation?
Sources:
Tuesday, 15 November 2016
Week 4 [14.11-20.11.2016] Online-friendship
Nowadays we spend more and more time sitting in front of our computers. That kind of lifestyle affects not only our body and level of activity but it also changes ways of communication and creates new types of emotional bonds.We'd rather stay home than going out and meet some friends, because it's more convenient and saves us a lot of time. However, we need to consider if a virtual relations are able to replace the regular love or friendship relations. Sometimes people choose to have virtual contact with others, because they are shy and scared of being rejected or scared of standing face to face with someone who can say something harmful to them. On the other hand it's a new form of social relations.
The technological revolution gave us many different opportunities to interact with other people. We can speak everyday with someone without even knowing his real name or how he looks like, but still share our secrets with that person. That kinds of relations are much more platonic that the regular ones. Very often we overinterpretate our interlocutor's words and feelings, because we can't see they're reaction through the distance. That type of relation is called an "online-friendship" and it includes all social media relations such as Facebook, Pintetest, Snapchat, Instagram etc. Statistics among the young people having "online
friendships" are still growing.
Virtual relations became something natural for teenagers, but to many parents who don't have that much knowledge about the internet, they are dangerous because they may affect on the real contacts with people in the future. Virtual relations also have a great influence on how much time we spend online. It's natural that we feel the need to stay in contact with others so we spend most of our time by using our phones, laptops or other devices. It turns out, when one of them breaks we suddenly feel empty and cut off from the world. I think that virtual reactions carry a threat in front of a sense of true intimacy and a sense of loneliness, when the number of these contacts decreases. We're becoming addicted to the social media and it makes us want to use them more. However, virtual relationships will never replace the real and true friendship.
Questions:
1. How much time a day do you spend on social media communicators.
2. What do you think about the virtual relations?
3. Do you prefer to talk to people on the Internet or face to face?
4.Do you think the social media are a threat to the regular relationships?
Sources:
Monday, 14 November 2016
Week 4 [14.11-20.11.2016] Is the world going to end now?
Is the world going to end now?
2016 has been a year of improbable and even unthinkable political changes actually taking place. I’m not referring to our own backyard, that’s a whole different story, but with Brexit, President Trump and a possibility of Le Pen winning next French elections millions of people feel concerned or even go into full panic mode. Is there a reason to? Are those genuine threats or are we being carried away? Let’s give it a thought. |
| http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Europes-Far-Right-Emboldened-by-Trumps-Triumph-20161109-0007.html |
Europe is falling apart!
Or
at least that is what one might think having read first reactions to Britons
deciding to leave the EU. Truth be told I was shocked myself. Plenty of people
acknowledged the rise of cheap populism, but still wanted to believe reason
would prevail. Well, it did not. That
brought on the first panic attack of centrist and liberal media suggesting the
EU is about to fall apart. The truth is the EU is in a deep crisis. Before we
even managed to properly recover from economic setback we were struck by
migration crisis. Plenty of people consider EU unable to deal with the problems
and Euroscepticism is on the rise. On that background Brexit might seem as a
big step towards it’s decomposition. Is it really though? All those problems
and Brexit itself have triggered not only anti-european movements. It has also
strengthened parties in favor of stronger integration, ones that look what was
the cause of crises and EU’s inability to deal with them. The cause to vast
extent may lay In insufficient integration, lack of common policies such as e.g.
the monetary one and ineffective decision making process. That suggests right
wing which today claims to have the solution might’ve been the cause itself
fighting against stronger integration. That view is shared by plenty of EU
leaders and one of the strongest movements within the EU leaders wants to
tighten the integration. The effort is being lead by Italy, Germany, France and
the Netherlands with support of plenty other countries, so Brexit might as well
turn out to be an impulse towards a stronger EU. Where our country with its
current foreign policy will find itself within it… Well, that is something I
don’t really like to think about.
 |
| http://castle2016.com/brexit/ |
Have we been nuked yet?
So it’s
happened. Despite all the polls and all the experts the candidate often
portrayed as xenophobic, incompetent, lacking respect for women and pretty much
any minority has won the race for the White House. His controversial remarks
have worried pretty much every foreign leader in the western world.
Transactional approach towards alliances such as NATO, admiration for Putin and
threats to break agreements already in place are a cause of thousands of
headaches. Should they be though? Of course he is going to be much more of an
unpredictable President than any other candidate would. Personally I’d cast my
ballot for Lucipher himself rather than Trump. Luckily populism can only go so
far. What may work in a campaign to get uneducated votes just doesn’t work when
it comes to running the state. Trump has already withdrawn from some of his
promises and the first names that come up as his future administration are
well-known and respected Republicans. Also Congress does not seem to be willing
to approve funding of such ridiculous proposals as the famous Trump wall. It
seems that after all he is going to act like a typical politician and he just
won’t do what he promised. Except in this case it’s actually something we
should hope for.
 |
| https://deemention.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/on-a-post-caring-world/ |
- What do you think about Brexit?
- Do you think Trump will make a better president than Hilary would?
- Do
you think those events will have big influence on Poland?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)